Kitschies

British literary prizes for speculative fiction


title: "Kitschies" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["english-literary-awards", "awards-established-in-2009", "2009-establishments-in-england", "science-fiction-awards", "fantasy-awards"] description: "British literary prizes for speculative fiction" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitschies" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British literary prizes for speculative fiction ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox award"]

FieldValue
nameKitschies
awarded_forLiterary award
date
countryUnited Kingdom
year2009
year22024
website
::

| name = Kitschies | current_awards = | image = | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | awarded_for = Literary award | presenter = | host = | date = | location = | country = United Kingdom | reward = | year = 2009 | year2 = 2024 | holder = | website = | network = | runtime = | ratings = | previous = | main = | next = The Kitschies were British literary prizes presented annually from 2009 to 2024 for "the year's most progressive, intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic" published in the United Kingdom. The awards discontinued after November 2024 when the final winners were announced.

Awards and criteria

The Kitschies were administered by a non-profit association with the stated mission of "encouraging and elevating the tone of the discussion of genre literature in its many forms". The founders, Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin, said that they sought to bring attention to works with a fantastic or speculative element that were progressive in terms of content and composition.

The award was a juried prize that selected the books which "best elevate the tone of genre literature." Qualifying books needed to contain "an element of the fantastic or speculative" and have been published in the UK. Winners received prize money and a textile tentacle trophy.

The Kitschies were initially established in 2009 by the website pornokitsch.com. The Kraken Rum was the sponsor between 2010 and 2013. For 2014 and 2015, Fallen London (a creation of UK game developer Failbetter Games) was the sponsor. The award did not run in 2016. From 2017 the sponsor was Blackwell's Bookshop.

For the last ten or eleven years of operation, the Kitschies were awarded in five categories:

  • Red Tentacle for the best novel (£1,000, since 2009)
  • Golden Tentacle for the best debut novel (£500, since 2010)
  • Inky Tentacle for the best cover art (£500, since 2011)
  • Invisible Tentacle for the best natively digital fiction (since 2014)
  • Glentacle, awarded at the judges' discretion (since 2010, called "Black Tentacle" until 2020)

Organisation

The judging panel changes annually and the unpaid directors have changed due to workload or illness. The number of submissions increased from 70 in 2009 to 234 in 2013.

For each year, the judges, directors, and the number of submissions for each year were as follows: ::data[format=table]

YearLiteraryArtNatively digital fictionAward DirectorsSubmissions200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
and Jared ShurinN/AN/Aand Anne C. Perry70
and Jared ShurinN/AN/Aand Anne C. Perry50
, Jared Shurin, Lauren Beukes, and Rebecca Levene, Craig Kennedy, Catherine Hemelryk, and Darren BanksN/A150
, Rebecca Levene, and Patrick Ness, Gary Northfield, and Ed WarrenN/A211
, Catherine Webb, Will Hill, Anab Jain, and Annabelle Wright, Sarah Anne Langton, Emma Vieceli, and Craig KennedyN/A234
, Adam Roberts, Kim Curran, Frances Hardinge, and Glen Mehn, Dapo Adeola, Jim Kay, and Siân Prime, James Wallis, Phil van Kemenade, and Clwere Reddington198
, James Smythe, Nazia Khatun, Nikesh Shukla and Glen Mehn, Regan Warner, Dapo Adeola, and Lauren O'Farrell, Emily Short, and Rebecca Levene176
No award
, Leila Abu El Hawa, Joshua Idehen, Alasdair Stuart, and Ewa Scibor-Rylska, Sharan Dhaliwal, Jet Purdie, and Stuart TaylorN/Aand Leila Abu El Hawa142
, Sharan Dhaliwal, Daniel Carpenter, Lucy Smee, and Matt Webb, Lily Ash Sakula, and Maeve RuttenN/Aand Leila Abu El Hawa178
, Kirsty Logan, Tasha Suri, Michaela Grey, and Alasdair Stuart, James Spackman, Kaiya Shang, and Sharan MatharuN/Aand Anne Perry196
, Clwere Rees, Mahvesh Murad, Kaiya Shang, and Daphne Lao Tong, Fleur Clarke, Claire Richardson, and Jeffrey Alan LoveN/Aand Anne Perry177
::

Recipients

All award information, unless otherwise referenced, is from the Kitschies Award's blog and tumblr, or from the sponsor Blackwell's website.

Red Tentacle (best novel)

::data[format=table title="Red Tentacle winners and finalists"]

YearAuthorNominated workResultRef2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Wontitle=sfadb: The Kitschies 2010url=http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2010access-date=2022-07-28website=www.sfadb.comarchive-date=28 July 2022archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728170902/http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2010url-status=live }}
Best Served ColdNominated
(posth.) and Seth Grahame-SmithPride and Prejudice and Zombies
Zoo CityWontitle=sfadb: The Kitschies 2011url=http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2011access-date=2022-07-28website=www.sfadb.comarchive-date=28 July 2022archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728170902/http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2011url-status=live }}
Children's CrusadeNominated
Kraken
**
Aurorarama
and Patrick NessWondate=4 February 2012title=The 2011 Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rumurl=http://www.pornokitsch.com/2012/02/the-2011-kitschies-presented-by-the-kraken-rum.htmlaccess-date=4 February 2012archive-date=8 February 2012archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208021948/http://www.pornokitsch.com/2012/02/the-2011-kitschies-presented-by-the-kraken-rum.htmlurl-status=live }}
Nominated
Embassytown
Osama
AngelmakerWonauthor=Alison Flooddate=27 February 2013title=Nick Harkaway takes Kitschies Red Tentacle awardurl=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/27/nick-harkaway-kitschies-red-tentacle-awardaccess-date=February 27, 2013work=The Guardianarchive-date=22 February 2017archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222075415/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/27/nick-harkaway-kitschies-red-tentacle-awardurl-status=live }}
Nominated
Jack Glass
Wondate=13 February 2014title=THE KITSCHIES: CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOUnewspaper=Pornokitschurl=http://www.pornokitsch.com/2014/02/the-kitschies-congratulations-thank-you.htmlaccess-date=14 February 2014archive-date=22 February 2014archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222142944/http://www.pornokitsch.com/2014/02/the-kitschies-congratulations-thank-you.htmlurl-status=live }}
Red DocNominated
More Than This
Bleeding Edge
Grasshopper JungleWondate=10 March 2015title=Kitschie awards judge overpowered by six-foot praying mantises!work=Guardianurl=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/05/kitschie-awards-judges-overpowered-by-six-foot-praying-mantisesaccess-date=10 March 2015archive-date=2 April 2015archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101038/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/05/kitschie-awards-judges-overpowered-by-six-foot-praying-mantisesurl-status=live }}
Nominated
Lagoon
Wondate=7 March 2016title="Announcing The Kitschies’ 2015 Winners!"work=Tor.comurl=http://www.tor.com/2016/03/07/announcing-the-kitschies-2015-winners/access-date=7 March 2016archive-date=8 March 2016archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308110020/http://www.tor.com/2016/03/07/announcing-the-kitschies-2015-winners/url-status=live }}
Europe at MidnightNominated
No awards heldtitle=The future’s so bright we gotta wear tentacles – The Kitschiesurl=http://www.thekitschies.com/the-futures-so-bright-we-gotta-wear-tentacles/access-date=2021-08-21language=en-GBarchive-date=24 May 2017archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524042503/http://www.thekitschies.com/the-futures-so-bright-we-gotta-wear-tentacles/url-status=live }}
Wondate=9 April 2018title="Announcing The Kitschies’ 2017 Winners!"work=Tor.comurl=https://www.tor.com/2018/04/09/announcing-the-kitschies-2017-winners/access-date=12 April 2018archive-date=12 April 2018archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412212204/https://www.tor.com/2018/04/09/announcing-the-kitschies-2017-winners/url-status=live }}
, translated by L. SeegersFeverNominated
City of Circles
We See Everything
Black Wave
CirceWontitle=Miller's Circe picks up Red Tentacle at Kitschies The Booksellerurl=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/miller-picks-red-tentacle-circe-kitschies-990436access-date=2021-08-21website=www.thebookseller.comarchive-date=7 June 2021archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607142114/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/miller-picks-red-tentacle-circe-kitschies-990436url-status=live }}
Record of a Spaceborn FewNominated
Rosewater
Unholy Land
Wondate=6 April 2020title="Announcing the Winners of the 2019 Kitschies!"work=Tor.comurl=https://www.tor.com/2020/04/06/announcing-the-winners-of-the-2019-kitschies/access-date=20 December 2020archive-date=17 January 2021archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117095143/https://www.tor.com/2020/04/06/announcing-the-winners-of-the-2019-kitschies/url-status=live }}
and Max GladstoneThis Is How You Lose the Time WarNominated
Always North
From the Wreck
PiranesiWontitle=sfadb: The Kitschies 2021url=http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2021access-date=2022-07-28website=www.sfadb.comarchive-date=1 July 2022archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701234157/http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2021url-status=live }}
Nominated
No awards held
Won
Black Water SisterNominated
, trans. by Sean Lin Halbert
Bear Head
Wonurl=https://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2023title=The Kitschies 2023access-date=July 23, 2005}}
Beyond the Burn LineNominated
translated by Megan McDowellOur Share of Night
Twelve Percent Dread
JuliaWonurl=https://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2024title=The Kitschies 2024access-date=July 24, 2005}}
In AscensionNominated
Infinity Gate
Jungle House
::

Golden Tentacle (best debut novel)

::data[format=table]

YearAuthorNominated workResultRef2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Not awarded
King MakerWon
God's WarWon
Among ThievesNominated
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Redemption in IndigoWon
vNNominated
Panopticon
Seraphina
Ancillary JusticeWon
Nominated
Stray
Nexus
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Viper WineWon
Nominated
Memory of Water
Making WolfWon
BlackassNominated
No awards held
Hunger Makes the WolfWon
Age of AssassinsNominated
How Saints Die
Mandelbrot the Magnificent
Frankenstein in BaghdadWon
Children Of Blood and BoneNominated
Semiosis
Sweet Fruit, Sour Land
JellyWon
My Name Is MonsterNominated
She Would Be King
Wilder Girls
Won
Sharks in the Time of SavioursNominated
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line
Raybearer
No awards held
TemporaryWon
Composite CreaturesNominated
Several People Are Typing
Winter's Orbit
Iron Widow
Our Wives Under the SeaWon
Brother AliveNominated
The Immortal King Rao
The Mountain in the Sea
When We Were Birds
Won
Bang Bang BodhisattvaNominated
Shark Heart
Your Wish Is My Command
::

Inky Tentacle (best cover art)

::data[format=table]

YearWorkAuthorArtist(s)ResultRef2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Not awarded
Not awarded
(designer)Won
Rivers of London(illus.) and Patrick Knowles (design)Nominated
(design) and John Spencer (illus.)
Equations of Life(design)
and Siobhan Dowd(illus.)
(illus.)Won
La Boca (design)Nominated
(illus.)
Costume Not Included(illus.)
Flame Alphabet(design)
(art)Won
Dreams and Shadows(design and illus.)Nominated
Homeland and Pirate CinemaAmazing15 (design)
Stray(art)
Apocalypse Now Now(art)
Tigerman(cover)Won
(design)Nominated
(cover)
Through the Woodsand Sonja Chaghatzbanian (cover)
and Yehring Tong (cover)
(art direction and design)Won
(design)Nominated
Monsters(art design) and Patrick Leger (illus.)
(design and illus.)
Get in Trouble
No awards held
and the Simon & Schuster Art Department (cover)Won
(illus.)Nominated
Black Wave(illus.) and Hannah Naughton (design)
Black Sheep (illus. and jacket design)
Our Memory like Dust(design)
Killing Commendatore(cover)Won
(design)Nominated
(design)
Squwere Eyesand Luke Jonesand Luke Jones (design)
Slender ManAnonymous(design)
(cover)Won
Across The Void(cover)Nominated
(cover)
ZedFaber & Faber (cover)
This Is How You Lose the Time Warand Max Gladstone(cover)
(cover) and Dexter Maurer (illus.)Won
Little Eyes(cover)Nominated
Monstrous Heart(cover)
(cover) and Amy Judd (illus.)
(cover)
No awards held
(art and design)Wontitle=sfadb: The Kitschies 2022url=http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2022access-date=2023-04-23website=www.sfadb.comarchive-date=31 March 2023archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331160821/http://www.sfadb.com/The_Kitschies_2022url-status=live }}
NightbitchNominated
Velvet Was the Night
Iron Widow
Paper CrusadeWon
Celestial, Tomas Almeida, Joanna Ridley & Helen EwingNominated
Motherthing
Poster Girl
Out There Screaming& John Joseph Adams, Stuart Wilson & Arnold J. KempWon
*Julia *Nominated
LionessGreg Heinimann Design
Remember, Mr Sharma
::

Invisible Tentacle (best natively digital fiction)

::data[format=table]

YearAuthor / DeveloperNominated workForm of MediaResultRef20142015
Cardboard Computer written by Jake ElliottKentucky Route Zero Act IIIvideo gameWon
and others@echovirus12Twitter fictionNominated
Inkle Studios written by Meg Jayanth and Jon Ingold, directed by Joseph Humfrey and Jon Ingold80 Daysvideo game
SimogoSailor’s Dreamvideo game
Dontnod EntertainmentLife Is Strangevideo gameWon
Arcadiainteractive novelNominated
@FrogCroakleyDaniel Barker’s BirthdayTwitter fiction
BBC Writers RoomThe Last Hours of Laura K
/ FromSoftwareBloodbornevideo game
::

Glentacle (Discretionary award previously called the Black Tentacle)

This award was called "Black Tentacle" until 2020, when it was renamed in memory of Kitschies co-founder Glen Mehn. ::data[format=table]

YearWinnerCitation20092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
No award
Memory, novel by Donald Westlake."to recognize a novel that doesn't quite fit the award description but is so exceptional it merits the highest praise...noir, pure and simple, by a master of the genre … while we're sorry that Memory went unpublished while Westlake was alive, we're delighted that Hard Case brought the manuscript to light"
SelfMadeHero, comics publisher"for their 2011 body of work and their contribution to elevating geek culture"
Lavie Tidhar, Charles Tan, and Sarah Newton"for the World SF Blog, a website showcasing international speculative fiction"
Malorie Blackman, British writer, Children's Laureate for 2013"for outstanding achievement in encouraging and elevating the conversation around genre literature"
Sarah McIntyre, author and illustrator"for tireless work to promote the rights of artists and to encourage others to value their work"
The genre community, personified by Patrick Ness"for its response to the humanitarian refugee crisis"
No awards held
No award
Nazia Khatun, Claire North, and Leila Abu El Hawa"for services to the SF/F community."
Simon Key of the Big Green Bookshop in Hastings"demonstrated extraordinary generosity and selflessness to readers, introducing and running his "Buy a Stranger a Book" initiative every Wednesday to allow readers to access books at a time that even libraries were closed."
No awards held
Comma Press"for their remarkable 'book of' and +100 series of anthologies"
::

References

References

  1. "The Kitschies Prize to end after 15 years, announces final shortlist". The Bookseller Magazine.
  2. "The Kitschies".
  3. Barnett, David. (13 January 2012). "The Kitschie awards have their Tentacles in the best genre fiction". [[The Guardian]] Books Blog.
  4. (13 January 2012). "The Kitschies: 2011 Finalists". Pornokitsch.com.
  5. "The future’s so bright we gotta wear tentacles – The Kitschies".
  6. "Blackwell's to sponsor The Kitschies {{!}} The Bookseller".
  7. "Judges – The Kitschies".
  8. (2020-04-14). "The Glentacle".
  9. "The Kitschies: 2012 Submissions by the Numbers".
  10. "The Kitschies: 2012 Submissions by the Numbers".
  11. "The Kitschies: 2012 Submissions by the Numbers".
  12. "The Kitschies: 2012 Submissions by the Numbers".
  13. "The Kitschies: 2012 Submissions by the Numbers".
  14. January 2014, Dave Bradley 23. (2014-01-23). "The Kitschies novel awards shortlist announced".
  15. "The Kitschies 2014 shortlist!".
  16. "The Kitschies’ 2015 Shortlists Revealed – The Kitschies".
  17. "The Kitschies’ 2015 Shortlists Revealed – The Kitschies".
  18. "2017 awards – The Kitschies".
  19. "Winners 2017 – The Kitschies".
  20. "Submissions for 2018 are now OPEN! – The Kitschies".
  21. locusmag. (2019-03-05). "2018 Kitschies Shortlists".
  22. "The Kitschies’ 2019 Winners Revealed".
  23. locusmag. (2020-03-09). "2019 Kitschies Shortlists".
  24. "Clarke and Anappara make Kitschies shortlists {{!}} The Bookseller".
  25. "The Kitschies 2020 Shortlists Revealed. – The Kitschies".
  26. "sfadb: The Kitschies 2010".
  27. "sfadb: The Kitschies 2011".
  28. (4 February 2012). "The 2011 Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum".
  29. Alison Flood. (27 February 2013). "Nick Harkaway takes Kitschies Red Tentacle award". [[The Guardian]].
  30. (13 February 2014). "THE KITSCHIES: CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU". Pornokitsch.
  31. (10 March 2015). "Kitschie awards judge overpowered by six-foot praying mantises!". [[The Guardian.
  32. (7 March 2016). ""Announcing The Kitschies’ 2015 Winners!"". [[Tor.com]].
  33. "The future’s so bright we gotta wear tentacles – The Kitschies".
  34. (9 April 2018). ""Announcing The Kitschies’ 2017 Winners!"". [[Tor.com]].
  35. "Miller's Circe picks up Red Tentacle at Kitschies {{!}} The Bookseller".
  36. (6 April 2020). ""Announcing the Winners of the 2019 Kitschies!"". [[Tor.com]].
  37. "sfadb: The Kitschies 2021".
  38. "The Kitschies 2023".
  39. "The Kitschies 2024".
  40. "sfadb: The Kitschies 2022".
  41. "Glen Mehn".
  42. "The Kitschies: 2010 Black Tentacle Winner".
  43. "2011 Awards – The Kitschies".
  44. "2012 Awards – The Kitschies".
  45. "2013 Awards – The Kitschies".
  46. Flood, Alison. (13 February 2014). "Ruth Ozeki beats Thomas Pynchon to top Kitschie award". [[The Guardian]].
  47. Tor.com. (2015-03-04). "Announcing The Kitschies’ 2014 Winners!".
  48. "2015 Awards – The Kitschies".
  49. "The Guardian".
  50. "2019 Awards – The Kitschies".
  51. "2020 Awards – The Kitschies".
  52. "The Kitschies Blackwell's".

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english-literary-awardsawards-established-in-20092009-establishments-in-englandscience-fiction-awardsfantasy-awards